Season 3 of Red vs. Blue includes episodes 39-57 of the series. It introduced a number of pretty big changes to the series, including the jump from using Halo to Halo 2 to create the show. It isn’t quite as good as seasons 1 and 2 since it runs a bit long and a good portion of it is a time travel/flashback/clip show, but it is still worth adding to your collection.
Story
When we left the RvB boys after season 2, the evil AI O’Malley jumped through a teleporter and our red and blue heroes gave chase. Unfortunately, the teleporter malfunctioned and sent them all to different maps. When they finally come back together, a bomb that Sarge installed in Church’s robot body (Confused? Go watch seasons 1 and 2) explodes and sends the characters through time. This marks the transition from using Halo to using Halo 2 to create the show as most of the characters are sent forward to the future (where everything is very shiny) while Church is sent to the past to a game Bungie created back in the day called Marathon. The story follows Church as he tries to fix things in the past so that the bomb never goes off and also the rest of the characters as they try to find their way back to Blood Gulch as well as their attempts to stop O’Malley. Season 3 also introduces a handful of new characters including a computer named Gary, a bomb named Andy, a freelancer named Wyoming, and a group of red and blue religious fanatics that are meant to represent online gamers.The Good, The Bad, and The Pretty
The story is pretty good, if not a bit confusing at parts, but it is almost getting too big for it’s own good. Season 3 is 135 minutes long and the humor isn’t quite as rapid fire as in seasons 1 and 2. The focus here is on the storyline first and comedy second, it seems, and there are periods of the season that really drag. It is all still really good and worth watching, but it isn’t up to the standard set by the first two seasons.There is a lot of good stuff in season 3, though. The jump to Halo 2 makes a huge difference in not only the look but the way overall production values (no more aiming reticule on the screen) and I can see only positive things to come in season 4. It also really makes you appreciate how much work went into Halo 2 because the visual upgrade from Halo to Halo 2 is pretty dramatic.
Features
Season 3 covers episodes 39-57 and clocks in at two hours and fifteen minutes. Just like the previous two seasons, it is edited to run smoothly together rather than having episode stops and there is a full-length commentary track from the guys at Rooster Teeth. This commentary is particularly good as there are a lot of little jokes and insider info that the team shares from the time they spent at Bungie studios before the release of Halo 2. Special features include public service announcements for cold and flu season, the Sundance Film Festival, Christmas, Thanksgiving, and some hilarious political ads among others. There are also outtakes and deleted scenes as well as coming attractions where the RvB characters spoof popular movies and television. The season 3 DVD also has profiles for all of the characters which do a good job of filling in the gaps in the story.Bottom Line
Season 3 of Red vs. Blue is considerably longer than the previous seasons, so it is fitting that the DVD also has the most (and best) special features out of the three DVDs that have been released. The quality of the season itself is a little down from before, but it is still very funny and well put together. The story is more confusing than ever, so you definitely need to have seen seasons 1 and 2 to understand it all. You can download all of the episodes for free online, but the DVDs have so much content on them that I believe they are worth the cash. I highly recommend the season 3 DVD (along with seasons 1 and 2 if you haven’t seen them before) of Red vs. Blue for a purchase. This show is unbelievably great and it is something that every Xbox owner and Halo fan needs to see.You can purchase Red vs. Blue Season 3 at GameStop or at the official Red vs. Blue website.
